Wood stove hack-secondary burn tubes added

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sorry to bring back an old thread but I want to do this mod to my old Elmira insert and wanted to hear how the op's worked out after extended use.
 
sorry to bring back an old thread but I want to do this mod to my old Elmira insert and wanted to hear how the op's worked out after extended use.

No problems. I did the stove modification in Jan. '08. The black pipe shows no signs of warping or breakdown in any way. The modification did not damage the stove in any way. It did totally change the way the stove burns, and there is much less smoke coming from the old beast than used to. I do have to be a little more careful as it would be easier to overfire the stove now. As far as wood use goes, I'm kind of unsure at this point. I used 6.3 cords last year and 6.25 cords the year before. I can say though, that I started burning wood earlier last year than the year before, and that last year was quite a bit colder than the year before. So my gut feeling is that it is more efficient, but I don't have a good feeling for how much more it might be.
 
Thanks just what I wanted to hear. My Elmira insert has two chambers for cats that get activated when you close a built-in damper the exhaust gases are forced through the cat chambers. I would love to tell you how they work but have never been able to find them. The reason Im telling you about the cats is it should mean my insert can handle the extra heat the secondary tubes will create.
 
sorry about the wall of text but Im posting from my cell's browser and its a pain.
 
I am glad you brought this thread back up.. I might give it a try on my owb. Worse thing I would have to do would be to weld a plug over the hole if it fails.
My biggest downfall will be supporting the pipe inside.. I am not about to climb in there to weld anything to the roof.. Been there when I built it.. It was clean then.. Now it looks like the inside of a used oil drum. lol
I might try cutting two holes in the face side by side. One being the supply and the other being a capped off nipple to just support the weight.
so it would be a u-shaped piece. consisting of two long pieces of pipe. Two close nipples, one cap, two 90s and one nipple to set the distance apart on the u end and One valve to control the flow. Do I really need a small blower? or will the draft just pull its own air?
 
well it is installed.

I used two 3/4 inch pipes 30 inches long and a 4 inch nipple for my huey/.

I will not be able to see if it is going to work til it gets cold out.. 56° here now.. I already had to dump some heat this afternoon while playing with the installed secondaries.. My garage is about 85.. I might go out there and sleep on the floor tonight.. as it is toasty warm/.
 
118640163.cwPYlKEH.secondary495.jpg
This is the tubes installed. The holes are on the left tube.. Are there any flames that look like gas jets coming out of the holes? No.. Is it working? I am not sure.
 
Pic didn't show.

Would the OWB be hot enough to actually make the secondarys work? I was thinking of doing this to my Hawken, but doubt i will. It would probably take a solenoid to kick open after the stove has reached an optimal temp.

Ericjeeper hope it works for ya!!
 
Nice job! I want to try something similar with my Englander. I priced out doing something similar (NPT style pipe through the front) in stainless and I should be able to get it done for under $100. Type 316 stainless steel pipe should last longer than my firebox!
 
powerstroke - I've got the same stove as you do, thought of doing the same thing. What design have you thought up?

I thought of going in just to the right and left of the ash door, underneath the welded steel on the inside that holds the "ash grate", 90 degree up through the floor of the ash grate up to the baffle plate, and then 90 degree toward the front.

Don't know if I can't get myself to do it though, I just got the furnace and don't really want to void my warranty?!?
 
The baffle like tree co was saying has to be insulated to help achieve higher temps for proper combustion. Some baffles are firebrick, ceramic board, or like mine a stainless steel insulated baffle. Both of my secondary air channels preheat the air for 2 feet before going into the firebox, then another 2 feet in the firebox where is comes out at 4 tubes. Fully firebricked interior also. When operating, the tubes and baffle glow from the secondaries.
 
I have found that if I do not plug the inlet fitting off.. The boiler will run away. came home to 209° I dumped the heat into the garage floor. Ut would have climbed higher I feel cept it was out of wood..:(
 
I have found that if I do not plug the inlet fitting off.. The boiler will run away. came home to 209° I dumped the heat into the garage floor. Ut would have climbed higher I feel cept it was out of wood..:(

For this reason is why i was thinking you'd need to add a solenoid or 2 that will allow or shutdown secondary air. But i was thinking the sol. would open after the upper firebox has reached a certain temp (not sure what that is ?) then of course shutdown when the water reaches it's temp.
 
Just thought I'd chime in on this thread as I recently bought an older wood stove called "The Elm." They're really pretty cool and unique stoves, you can find out more about them here

The guy who created the website has been retrofitting some of them with secondary burn tubes, and he's got a couple videos on Youtube showing the secondary burn. The best one showing the secondary burn is this one, about 5:40 into the video.

He also has a photo gallery with some images that have some nice close-ups of the secondary burn tubes and how they're installed--you can view the photo gallery here.

I'm going to restore my Elm (repaint, regasket, etc.) and I also plan on installing a set of the secondary burn tubes.

Hope this helps some people who are thinking about adding burn tubes to their stove.

NP
 
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